SUMMARY
5 Mn new startups come up every year, out of which 90% shut down
Market research plays a key role in planning a strategy
Digital marketing is the new age tool to advertise a product
Have you finally taken the leap of faith and pursued your startup?
Did you really think that was the most challenging part?
Well, you should know that startups are no more eye-brow-raising concepts in most parts of the globe. With distance turned into gigabytes of speed, the globe is literally a marketplace with opportunities infinite. However, it is not a cakewalk.
According to Failory, a community formed by startup founders, 5 Mn new startups come up every year, out of which 90% shut down.
Clever product marketing strategy is the key to the success of the remaining 10%. Pricing your product, planning your advertising budget, identifying your target audience and their needs, and estimating the revenue that you could generate from advertising, are some of the many benefits of product marketing.
Although it is also quite possible that your product becomes a hotcake and your market share grows through word of mouth in due course of time. But until that happens you must adopt a comprehensive marketing plan to stay ahead of the competition.
Read on to discover the various marketing strategies that could help your startup stand up against everything that dissuades it from becoming a successful venture.
Market Analysis
Market research plays a key role in planning a strategy by helping you understand your competition as well as assess the demand for your product. One of the most efficient ways is a SWOT analysis. A time-tested technique followed by most of the successful startups, it tells you the strengths and weaknesses of your competitor’s as well as your product.
Another technique is to go for interviews or group surveys or both with your potential customers to estimate the demand for your product. A careful market analysis helps in pricing, positioning, promotion of your product.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is the new age tool to advertise a product.
It involves marketing a product through online advertising platforms, social media platforms, content marketing, web forms & surveys, instant messengers, SMS, email, and so on.
If you’re wondering why social media then check out, We Are Social’s report, which suggests that nearly 3.48 Bn people use social media.
Social media sites are longer used only for socializing but these days, are used for commercial activities as well. According to a report submitted by Oberlo, 73% of companies claim that social media marketing has proven to be effective in the sales of their products.
Well, the reason is obvious. The sheer number of users coupled with the many influencers on Instagram and YouTube can aid in marketing a product. With a huge fan following, these influencers can spread the word about your product like wildfire. While Google Ads can greatly help in the visibility of your product, social media platform is where the action is.
You can even create your own business account on social media platforms to promote your brand, as well as keep your target audience informed of all your updates, new offers, and discounts. You could post paid advertisements on Facebook, which as of March 31, 2019, had 2.37 bn active users. Just ensure that your adverts are quirky enough to force the viewer into watching the whole thing.
Content Marketing
When you create relevant and valuable content for your target audience, they trust you and it helps you in building brand loyalty. All you have to do is have a website with an attractive landing page and one that has blogs, videos, photos, or podcasts related to your product.
When creating a website consider there are 2.71 Bn smartphone users worldwide.
What it means is that it is highly probable that your customer might open your website on their smartphone. Therefore, besides being search engine optimized, make sure your website is mobile friendly and your content is short and simple.
Then there are instant messaging tools such as WhatsApp, WeChat, and Messenger that you could use to provide instant answers to your clients. And of course, there is the old-fashioned email marketing and cost-effective SMS marketing. However, when using emails, make sure that you avoid lengthy and wordy emails.
Offline Marketing
While digital marketing plays a big role in product marketing, offline marketing strategies are equally important.
For example, attending trade fairs gives you an opportunity to analyze the tricks and techniques used by your rival companies. It gives you an idea about the latest trends in the market. Besides, you also get a chance to interact with a large number of potential clients and understand their requirements.
Promoting A Social Cause
Your company would be doing a social service as well as getting the attention of your clients. People would be interested in buying your product because it would ascertain a feel-good factor for the buyer. Sponsoring an event or hiring a flash mob is also a great strategy.
These strategies could also give your product the much-needed coverage by being discussed in popular news forums.
Referral Programs
A study shows that people are about four times more likely to purchase a product when it is referred to them because they trust personal recommendations over anything else. The best part is that a referral program would not cost much, and depending on how you structure it, it could even be free. Bartering discounts for referrals could be a smart strategy to move forward.
Now let’s take a quick look at the innovative approaches adopted by the pioneers
Products like Flock, Slack, Asana, and Troop Messenger offer trial versions so that their users get the hang of their product. By being free for a certain period of time, their products sell themselves. Besides offering such freebies, these guys focus on a specific target audience, which is the corporate sector.
In addition, these companies strongly believe in releasing a preview of their new product. You could follow their lead and offer a couple of free samples, depending on your budget, after identifying your target audience. The feedback you receive through a preview release will help you in improving your product before the actual market release.
The Necessity Of Internal Communication
A successful marketing strategy cannot be formulated unless your product development teams and the client-facing teams work in sync.
Their insights empower the sales and marketing of a product. It is, therefore, essential that while planning any strategy, you collaborate with your teams through frequent, clear and crisp communication.
Most importantly, since the teams will be exchanging a lot of critical and confidential data, you must ensure that such information exchange remains encrypted and inaccessible to people outside your company.
You can accomplish this by deploying an instant business chat solution such as Troop Messenger, which provides state-of-the-art encryption and privacy. In addition, you also get other benefits such as ease of use of the software regardless of your team’s location.
Conclusion
So, to cut a long story short, when marketing your product, there is a lot that you need to consider. Knowing your product, identifying your audience, assessing the demand, analyzing your competition, the list seems to be endless. However, with the right strategy and some patience, your startup can make it to the big league.
